1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical devices and methods for repairing orthopedic injuries, and, more particularly, to devices and methods for repairing soft-tissue tears and for affixing soft tissue to bone.
2. Description of Related Art
The repair of soft tissue tears represents a persistent problem in orthopedic practice. It is known to apply sutures and various types of fixation devices to such tears. The fixation of soft tissue to a bone, and that of bone pieces to each other, is an additional frequently encountered problem. A related condition, osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), results in the splitting of pieces of cartilage into a joint, such as a knee joint or shoulder joint.
Sutures, barbs, and various types of screws are known to be used to bring two sides of a tear into apposition; screws are also known for use in fixing two sections of bone together and for fixing a piece of soft tissue to bone. A number of fastener-type devices are known in the art: Screiber (U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,976); Bays et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,884,572 and 4,895,148); Winters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,206); and Justin and Winters (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,503,634 and 5,730,744). Bone screws are disclosed by Huebner et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,562,672, 5,871,486, and 5,964,768).